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IOM’s Regional Programme Strengthens the Protection of Child Victims across North Africa and Key Routes

Primary GCM Objectives

GCM Guiding Principles*

*All practices are to uphold the ten guiding principles of the GCM. This practice particularly exemplifies these listed principles.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Dates

2023 - 2025

Type of practice

Project/Programme

Geographic scope

Regions:

Sub Regions:

Summary

​​Mixed and irregular migration is a key feature in North Africa (NA), often leading migrants to be in vulnerable situations of violence, abuse, exploitation and human trafficking. The protection needs are particularly seen in the Central Mediterranean Route (CMR) as the main migratory route used by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from West Africa and NA to reach Europe (Italy). The region has witnessed complex mixed movement flows, particularly along the CMR where arrivals in Italy via this route surged in 2022, with a 34.57 per cent increase in the first half of 2022 and a notable 2.80-fold rise in the second half, totaling 77,498 people by Dec 2022. IOM registered 461,101 people arriving in NA from 2021 to 2022, of which 5,405 were victims of trafficking (VoTs), from 2019-2023 IOM alone registered and assisted over 40,000 migrant children, 10,000 of whom were unaccompanied and 10 were identified as VoTs. The vulnerabilities and needs for migrant children and VoTs is only on the rise, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and distorting protective systems with the Mediterranean routes, meaning significant crossings. 

​While progress has been made in terms of national response, international cooperation and evidence building in NA, additional efforts and capacity remain necessary to ensure that VoTs and children on the move are adequately protected and access their rights while stranded along NA migration routes. Robust efforts are needed to ensure coordination and adequate responses to the needs of child trafficking victims.

​The Regional Development and Protection Programme aims to address that, by building evidence base, operational guidance, inter and intra-regional convening to address child trafficking, the programme uses a route-based approach to strengthen increased cooperation and exchange of operational actors and frontline responders in the region to protect VOTs and children on the move in the region and key routes. The programme focuses on the protection, prevention and partnership elements to the child trafficking elements, ensuring that all stakeholders leverage and establish partnerships for protection, and evidence base informed interventions for child trafficking. 

The whole of government approach is adopted where line ministries including ministries of social welfare, ministries of Justice and the national councils to combat trafficking in North Africa are involved, for example under the same programme, the national councils to combat trafficking from various countries in North Africa  were consulted to develop a thematic learning note on lessons learned and emerging practices to combat trafficking in the region, including child trafficking. 

In the short term, the programme builds the evidence base on child trafficking, looking at the main drivers, protective and vulnerability factors of children. It also builds concrete and operational guidance to strengthen the protection of child victims –targeting both child protection and counter-trafficking actors. Finally, it convenes regional coordination mechanisms with the overall aim of enhancing partnerships between child protection and counter-trafficking actors and addressing the coordination gap identified between these actors at national, regional and cross-regional levels.

For instance, on 5-6 March 2024 in Cairo the programme brought these actors together to exchange promising practices, priorities and challenges faced in the protection of VoTs and children on the move. The workshop enabled discussion of pressing issues related to child trafficking in the region, both the gap of evidence base and of protection to child victims. Participants included 30 representatives from the governments of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia, as well as the AU, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNODC and the EU Asylum Agency. 

This event is the first in a series of regional exchanges dedicated to supporting member states in achieving migrant-protection commitments, in line with the objectives of the SDGs and the GCM under the regional programme.

Organizations

Main Implementing Organization(s)

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Detailed Information

IOM Regional Office MENA

Partner/Donor Organizations

European Union
Government of Italy

Benefit and Impact

The programme strengthens the cooperation and exchange, acting as a pivotal mechanism that brings together civil society, government from the region and key routes, child protection and counter trafficking actors with the main objective enhancing the protective environment of migrants including child victims in vulnerable situation along the route.

In the short term the programme builds the evidence base on child trafficking, looking at the main drivers, protective and vulnerability factors of children, in addition to that the programme builds concrete and operational guidance to strengthen the protection of child victims – the guidance targets both child protection and counter trafficking actors, finally the programme convenes regional coordination mechanisms with the overall aim of enhancing partnerships between child protection and counter trafficking actors and addressing the coordination gap that has been identified between the two at both national, regional and cross regional levels.

The research will enhance the evidence-base around the vulnerability and experiences of children on the move in North Africa and along key migration routes. This will be finalized through robust internal analysis of IOM case data, DTM flow monitoring data and relevant data sets outline the situation, needs and experiences of children on the move once analyzed, the research will also include focus group discussions and KIIs with frontline child protection case workers and key stakeholders that will enrich the paper. The overall aim is to provide a solid evidence-base for regional dialogue, policy, and response to child protection challenges in North Africa.

Key Lessons

More coordination and cooperation amongst child protection and counter trafficking actors are needed to address intersectional needs of child victims.

Recommendations(if the practice is to be replicated)

Recommendations from the workshop included:

Protecting Victims of Trafficking
- Set up cooperation agreements between countries along the route and bilateral agreements between countries experiencing evolving trends.
- Link national referral mechanisms to transnational mechanisms to enhance the continuation of care for victims along the route.
- Invest in increased prevention efforts at the national level and early identification, including at border points.
- Increase the availability of shelters, including emergency shelters and protection sectors along the route.
- Strengthen partnerships between migration, counter trafficking, child protection, border management, and justice actors for timely access to wide array of protection services and referrals.

Counter Trafficking data
- Centralize VoT data in country and ensure data exchange with countries along the route.
- Invest in capacity building for frontline staff on data collection linked to victim identification and pre-identification.
- Analyze the impact of evidence base related not only to trends but to policy reform and service provision by ensuring robust monitoring frameworks.

Protecting Children on the move
- Invest in community approaches and responses to child protection, ensuring that communities are involved in the identification and referral of UASCs and are further aware of the available services.
- Conduct more research on alternative care, in particular family-based care, learning from the Mauritania model and how it can be replicated within the region.
- Implement inclusive and non-discriminatory Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for case management and referrals in migration contexts.

Children on the move data
- The absence of a common definition is the first and foremost gap in ensuring that adequate data is collected.
- The gap on data for children remains huge in the region, an investment in information sharing, coordination platforms and capacity building for data collection and national and trans-national level is needed.
- Enhance age assessment procedures along the route and identification of UASCs, in particular at border points, by enhancing cooperation with border authorities and child protection actors.

Innovation

The practice brought together key actors with the aim of increasing the cooperation and coordination to address child trafficking.

Date submitted:

11 July 2024

Disclaimer: The content of this practice reflects the views of the implementers and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations, the United Nations Network on Migration, and its members.

 

 

*References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).